Wednesday, April 25, 2018

The Truckee-Donner Land Trust
has been protecting and preserving scenic and historic land in the greater
Truckee area for more than 25 years. Past and current projects are
targeted based on their high natural resource value with the goal of
encouraging sustainable public use on these properties. Their success stories
are too many to name, but anyone who recreates in the Truckee/Donner area on
trails is likely enjoying the great outdoors on a parcel of land that the Land
Trust helped to protect or bring into public use.

The Land Trust is very
proactive in encouraging community involvement whether it be through donations,
trail work or other outdoor events. Recently the 2018 Summer Hiking Series was
announced which will include over 40 hikes at 11 different properties this
summer. Some highlights include The Royal Gorge Rim Trail, Perazzo Meadows, Mt.
Lola and Castle Valley just to name a few. There are hikes suitable for people
of all ages and a variety of options for different distances and difficulty. Hikes
are guided by a docent and there are detailed descriptions on the TDLT website for
all of the hiking options.

Registration is open now for
the upcoming summer season. This is an amazing opportunity to see some of the
most beautiful and unspoiled land in the region. Get out there and enjoy.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Living in and visiting a
beautiful area like Lake Tahoe magnifies the importance of environmental awareness and proactive
measures to keep this place we love healthy and sustainable. Many local
businesses and organizations are very active in working towards keeping the
Tahoe area clean, beautiful and environmentally responsible, and have been for
years. Tahoe is an area where the
population can swell to 5 times its usual size on busy summer and winter
periods, so every little local initiative stands to have a big impact
regionally.

In 2014, Truckee banned the
use of plastic bags at retail shops and grocery stores with the aim to
eliminate plastic bag pollution in the area. Three and a half years later, this
is just the norm in the area and people are used to bringing reusable bags
around with them. The Town of Truckee is currently implementing a program that
provides residents with recycling
and yard waste carts instead of plastic bags which will prevent an estimated
3 million bags from going to landfills in the next 10 years.

The next hot topic is single
use plastics and polystyrene. South Lake Tahoe has recently banned
the use of polystyrene which is the
most frequently found trash found along Tahoe’s shoreline. Polystyrene is not
biodegradable is used in items like foam coolers, plates, clamshell containers,
and plastic silverware. The ordinance will take effect in October, and local food
providers and business need to stop distribution and sale of these items. There
is the hope that the rest of the towns in the Tahoe region will follow suit
shortly.

Drink
Tahoe Tap has been active in promoting the use of reusable drinking containers and
raising awareness around the quality of the local water in an effort to stop the wasteful
use and disposal of plastic water bottles. Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows have banned plastic
water bottles at their resorts through their Drink Mountain Tap campaign which
will keep 28,000 plastic bottles out of landfills annually. Squaw/Alpine have a
much bigger vision moving forward with their goal to run solely on renewable
energy by the end of 2018.

The Tahoe Fund was formed specifically to preserve
the beauty in the Tahoe region and encourage responsible use of natural
resources in addition to improving and funding outdoor recreations areas and
programs. Ongoing programs such as the Take
Care Campaign informs visitors of issues related to the area and reminds
them to be responsible stewards while they are here. Bear awareness,
appropriate litter disposal and fire prevention are just a few recurring themes.
The Take Care Campaign also offers ways for people to get involvedin various projects while they are here such
as Earth Day events and community cleanup days.

There is a lot going on in
Tahoe to keep this place amazing, and this is just scratching the surface. As a
simple start, if every resident and visitor would simply use reusable drinking containers
and dispose of trash properly the positive impacts to the area would be
monumental.

The convergence of these factors resulted in the strongest ever first quarter for Tahoe-Truckee real estate based upon a number of different metrics. Total residential sales grew 6% over the same period a year prior while total dollar volume leapt by 19%; indicative of a greater number of premium homes selling. In fact, 83 homes traded at prices greater than $1 million, 53% more than during the same period in 2017 driving average price up 12% to $971,767.

The luxury segment is driving both volume and price as premium, modern homes provide an opportunity for instant gratification to wealthy consumers. Martis Camp and Lahontan are two communities that embody this trend in particular. Martis Camp has been setting new benchmarks for an extended period of time. In Q1, 2018 that community saw 11 homes close escrow up from an already robust 7 in the first quarter of the prior year. Lahontan, a community in which the dichotomy between old and new product is most evident, has absorbed 7 already in 2018 versus just 1 over the same period a year ago.

Interestingly, vacant land experienced an unseasonable surge in activity during the first quarter. Winter’s deferred start allowed atypical access to property during this period leading to 66 closed transactions. Average price increased a modest 5% over this period driven by 3 premium Martis Camp sales topping $2 million. Figures adjusted to exclude that market outlying community show a 7% decrease in median price reflective of soaring construction costs diminishing that residual value of the land.

An imbalanced supply of available homes will create an interesting market dynamic into the second quarter; a period when a majority of the year’s inventory is brought to market. With consumers perched awaiting an option to inspire a purchase, well priced sellers will be rewarded.